Quirky extra worms its way into bread

The thought of adding mealworms to bread may not tickle many people’s taste buds, but doing just that earned one student a top award.

Gemma Lamb, a Food, Nutrition and Health student at the University of Huddersfield, won the Institute of Food Science and Technology North of England Young Scientist competition after serving up the mealworm laced concoction to food scientists.

The project is the basis of her final-year dissertation.

And as she prepares to graduate, the talented 22-year-old has secured a job as a process technologist at high-end sauce manufacturer New Ivory, based in Elland.

Speaking about her unusual addition, Gemma said: “I have eaten them, they are fine – just crunchy and don’t particularly taste horrible.

“But they do have a distinctive smell and that is what puts you off rather than the actual taste.”

Her studies revealed that there was no difference in the response people gave to bread with and without mealworms.

Gemma, originally from Chester, has always wanted to enter a career in food since her high school days, where home economics was her favourite subject.